Page 10 of Just Between Us

This is bad.

This is so, so bad.

Chapter Four: Levi

3 YEARS AGO

The last time I saw my best friend Anant, I was lying in a hospital bed, all sorts of exciting tubes lodged into my body. The doctors said I drowned and died for a couple of minutes before a good Samaritan found me and performed CPR. It had been two weeks since the hospital and I felt like I was finally back to normal. Whatever normal meant for me.

I’d hoped that my brain switching off for a bit would slow down my thoughts, but they were as loud as ever. Thoughts of Adam, work, the stars, and the political landscape all melted together, creating one big clump of jumbled details.

“I want you to meet someone,” Anant said. “Remember the girl I told you about? The one I met in L.A?”

He told me about a lot of girls, it was hard to keep up with them sometimes. I furrowed my brow. Anant hadn’t prepared me for company. If I knew he invited someone else, I wouldn’t have come. I was only there to get sloppy drunk with my best friend, not make small talk. Small talk sounded exhausting at the moment.

“Relax,” Anant said, reading my mind. “You’ll love her. We’ve been on a few dates, and I think this might be serious.”

And as if on cue, a girl with curly black hair and rich dark brown skin walked in. She was tall and she was in a tiny green skirt that showed off an impressive pair of legs. I glanced at Anant who looked a little flushed. He took a quick swig of his water and stood. I watched them kiss, hardly believing he managed to convince a girl like her to go out with him. She was unbelievably hot.

“Ahh, I see,” I murmured to myself, despairing about the fact that he had a beautiful woman he liked to sleep next to whilst I was stuck in an endless cycle of empty hookups. I knew I was attractive and finding someone to fuck was incredibly easy but the sleeping around thing was getting old.

“Levi, this is Kez. Kez, this is my best friend, Levi,” Anant said as she took a seat next to him.

Kez smiled widely, showing off bright white teeth. “Pleasure to finally meet the famous Levi Bellamy,” she said. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

“Only the bad things, I hope?”

Kez laughed, nodding. “Oh, all awful.”

Once we were done with the food; Kez looked at both of us guiltily. “I hope you don’t mind; I invited a friend to join us for a drink?”

I honestly didn’t care. I was there to drink, not make small talk and if they were decent-looking it wouldn’t hurt to have them here.

Yet, when Cole Armas appeared in front of me, all my thoughts evaporated into the sky. He was tall, and he clearly spent a good amount of time in the gym—undoubtedly hot, not my usual type.

I mostly went for people who I knew would beg on their knees for a single kiss. Cole Armas didn’t look like the kind of guy who had ever begged for anyone or anything, but there was something about him that made my mouth go dry and wet all at once, suddenly wanting things I’d never wanted before.

It was the middle of summer, and he was wearing a white T-shirt and black jeans. An exclusive edition Audemars Piguet watch sat on his wrist, and veins trailed down his arms in hypnotic patterns. I scanned his hand, no ring. Perfect.

Light green eyes landed on me, flashing.I perked up, there was something behind them, something sad—no, not sad—empty.

Oh, colour me intrigued.

“Hello,” he said in that familiar charming private boarding school accent, eyes still focused on me like he was trying to cast some kind of spell. “I’m Cole. Cole Armas.”

Possibly gay too?

My stars were aligning.

But that name. “Wait,” I said. “Cole Armas as in A-EYE Armas?”

He tilted his head. I was vaguely aware of Kez and Anant watching us, but I didn’t care. I just want to speak to this stunning man in front of me.

“That depends on who’s asking.”

I smiled, feeling slight embarrassment creeping in which only made my flush deeper because I didn’t get flustered. I did the flustering.

“A future employee?”

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